Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook
A talk show on official Palestinian Authority television recently promoted the classic Antisemitic stereotype of Jews being overly concerned with "accumulating money." The guest attempted to validate his defamation by claiming that it is corroborated in the Quran. In addition, the guest's call for the destruction of Israel, in his words, "to liberate the entire stolen Palestinian homeland," met with approval by the official PA TV host: "I join my voice to yours; of course, unity and liberation are the hope of all Palestinians." PMW has documented the ongoing denial of Israel's right to exist by the PA.
The program Personal Encounter featured an interview with Abd Al-Rahman Abu Al-Qassam, a Palestinian actor living in Syria. He described the PLO's discovery that "the pen and the stage" can be effective weapons, and says his enemies are the Zionists "who were taken by World Zionism, and were transformed from the old Jew into the Zionist Jew, full of fascism." [PA TV, Jan. 23, 2011, rebroadcast Feb. 27, 2011]
He conceded that early Palestinian theatrical portrayals of the Jews as bent-nosed, weak and cowardly were not accurate, but insisted that the other early stereotype connecting Jews with money was indeed true:
"Of course, he [the Jew] is interested in accumulating money - the Jews throughout history, and in the religions, and the Quran tells us about the Jews and their worry over money."
His Antisemitic statements were not challenged by the PA TV host. PA TV is controlled by the office of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
Click to see more examples of PA demonization of Jews and Israelis.
Following is an excerpt from the program:
Click to view
[The PA TV host asks about "theater as weapon."]
Abd Al-Rahman Abu Al-Qassam, actor: "The PLO... discovered that theater has a pioneering role, and just as we fight on the battlefields with guns, so we should fight using the pen and the stage..."
PA TV host: "What is your opinion of people who draw a distinction, who say that a Jew is not [like] the Israeli?"
Al-Qassam: "The Neturei Karta [an extremist sect of religious Jews who deny Israel's right to exist until the Messiah comes]. . . Those people are not my enemies. My enemies are the other Jews, the Zionists, who were taken by World Zionism, and were transformed from the old Jew into the Zionist Jew, full of fascism. . ."
Host: "You also said, at the same time, that there must be a 'new reading' of the Zionist enemy, since we generally describe him as a weak person... But there are people who say the opposite: Our problem with the Israelis is that we empower them and amplify their power to mythological proportions."
Al-Qassam: ""30 or 40 years ago, we presented the Jew in the theater as someone with a bent nose who lends with interest and who understands nothing except money matters, and is cowardly, ugly, interested only in collecting money and controlling the people around him. However, this is not accurate or correct: The Jew doesn't have a bent nose, and isn't cowardly, and is not interested only in accumulating money.
Of course, he is interested in accumulating money - the Jews throughout history, and in the religions, and the Quran tells us about the Jews and their worry over money. But that's not everything. Everything, for these people, means keeping what they've managed to attain, in other words, occupation of territory, of a homeland, of history, of geography...
My brothers... in Gaza and in the West Bank... I want to urge you strongly to unite ... this enemy [Israel] is not an easy enemy, and if we want to defeat this difficult enemy, we have to be united so that we can strengthen our abilities... to liberate the entire stolen Palestinian homeland [i.e., all of Israel]. May Allah bless you."
Host: "Thank you very much... I join my voice to yours; of course, unity and liberation are the hope of all Palestinians."
[PA TV (Fatah), Jan. 23, 2011, and Feb. 27, 2011]
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